Beyond the Ballot Box

Recently, Kamarazaman Yaakob, who is the brother to Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, recently announced that he’s launching a new party called Parti Kuasa Rakyat. Kamarazaman has said that his party will champion the poor and be a BN-friendly party. This announcement, which seemingly came out of nowhere, has got many wondering if Malaysia needs another political party in an already saturated political landscape? Oh Ei Sun helps us unpack.

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The Melaka state legislative assembly was dissolved on Tuesday (Oct 5) following the collapse of the state administration, paving the way for snap elections, to be held in a couple of months time. This was the second time the Melaka state assembly collapsed in two years.

First up, we speak with Iskandar Fareez of REFSA about the politicking side of things. Following that, Thomas Fann of Bersih 2.0 joins us to discuss lessons we can learn from the infamous Sabah state snap elections 2020 so that we don’t see another massive spike again.

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As part of the 12th Malaysia Plan, Ismail Sabri recently announced that the sale of Bumiputera shares or companies will only be offered and sold to fellow Bumiputera consortiums, firms, and individuals. The announcement received tremendous backlash from opposition MPs and netizens. In light of this, on today’s show, we’re going to be exploring race-based policies in Malaysia -- yay or nay? Do they have a role to play or do they just benefit the cronies?

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On the 13th of September the Ismail Sabri administration and the Pakatan Harapan bloc of the opposition bench signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Transformation and Political Stability. Basically the deal will see Pakatan Harapan either support or refrain from voting when it comes to critical votes such as the budget in exchange for certain institutional reforms and policies that could potentially benefit the rakyat. 

It’s been 10 days since the deal was inked, so what has the fallout been like so far? YB Nik Nazmi joins us to discuss.

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 A lot has been said about the largest opposition bloc, Pakatan Harapan, over the past year or so, particularly of its leader, Anwar Ibrahim. Langkah Sheraton happened because members of Pakatan Harapan decided to leave. And since Langkah Sheraton, Harapan hasn’t appeared to be an inspiring united force. Anwar Ibrahim himself hasn’t been successful in cobbling together the numbers, despite repeatedly indicating that he can or has. The question is, does Pakatan Harapan need a new leader? Ariff Adi Putera from the Institute of Development Studies joins us to discuss.

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The Democratic Action Party (DAP) is currently the single party with the most Parliamentary seats -- 42. Despite having the strongest numbers, the party feels almost sidelined when it comes to political maneuverings, particularly when it comes to matters of a PM candidate. And what about race-based politics? DAP has made it clear that they’re not a race-based party/Chinese-based party, but are they forced to play the game nonetheless? In this episode, we’re joined by Howard Lee, DAP Youth Chief, to discuss the curious case of the DAP.

Image credit: Howard Lee Facebook page and dapmalaysia.org

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Dato Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob from UMNO has been appointed the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia after commanding the confidence of 114 out of 220 Members of Parliament. But what do we know about Ismail Sabri? Does his history and how he handled the Ministry of Defence portfolio for 18 months under the Muhyiddin administration give us some insight as to the kind of Prime Minister that he might be? Dr Bridget Welsh joins us to discuss.

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The Prime Minister, Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin, has resigned. UMNO’s Ismail Sabri Yaakob is on track to become the 9th Prime Minister of Malaysia, after reportedly commanding the confidence of 114 Members of Parliament, three more than required to form a simple majority government. However, there are some sources that say that it’s the YDPA’s wish, that all parties can unite just for a few months, weather the COVID-19 storm, and then go for elections for a reset. Iskandar Fareez of the think tank, REFSA, joins us to discuss everything that has been going on in our extremely fluid political scene, including the possibility of a unity government, and what it means for our health, economic and political crisis.

Image source: Ismail Sabri Yaakob Facebook, Anwar Ibrahim Facebook

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It’s been said that Malaysia is a democracy. That the people have the power. But when we look at our political landscape today, it seems like the voters -- the rakyat -- don’t actually have a say in the goings on. In fact, the political maneuvering and durian trading that’s allegedly currently ongoing is in complete contradiction with what the people want -- complete focus on curbing the pandemic and restarting the economy. But how does this happen? And is there a way to bridge the gap between the people and the state? Sharan Raj of Parti Sosialis Malaysia joins us to discuss.

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It’s been a wild week in Malaysian politics and that’s saying something. From Law Minister Takiyuddin Hassan’s blunder in Parliament, PN clashing with the Monarch, Parliament being postponed and then postponed again and later barricaded altogether, to more numbers game. All of this taking place against the backdrop of more than 200 daily COVID-19 deaths. So, it’s a mess. But what does any of it mean to us, the common folk? Oh Ei Sun joins us to share his insights.

Image source: Muhyiddin Yassin Facebook, EPA-EFE, Takiyuddin Hassan Facebook 

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